Natural juice in Pepsi, Coke will benefit Indian farmers: Modi

Inaugurating a sprawling 110-acre Food Park in Karnataka's Tumkur district, Modi said proper marketing of what farmers produce is necessary.

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IndiaToday.in

New Delhi

September 24, 2014

UPDATED: September 24, 2014 22:29 IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that if beverages like Pepsi or Coke contain even five per cent of natural juice, the farmers who grow fruits in India will benefit immensely and make crores of rupees.

"Pepsi and Coke are sold in the market. If they agree to put even five per cent of natural juice in their products, the farmers will make a lot of money," he said.

Inaugurating a sprawling 110-acre Food Park in Karnataka's Tumkur district, Modi said proper marketing of what farmers produce is necessary. "Farmers work to provide for us, but if they are not developed then where will they go? Therefore there needs to be value addition," Modi said.

The mega food park with a storage capacity of 22,000 tonnes will house 30 food processing companies who are expected to make an investment of Rs 1000 crores.

A project of the Food Processing Ministry, the park is expected to be operational by December this year. It will benefit farmers from Tumkur, Kolar, Shimoga districts in Karnataka which are rich in millets, oilseeds, vegetables and fruits.

"For farmers to develop economically, they need to be given facilities for better growth," Modi said.

Modi is on a two-day visit to Karnataka. He was at the Indian Space Research Mission headquarters in Bangalore earlier on Wednesday to witness the success of India's Mars mission.